Typewriting machine



J. WALDHEIM TYPEWRITING MACHINE Feb. 26 1924.

Filed April 14 1920 INVENTOR= ATTOR Y Patented Feb. 26, 1924.

JOHN WALDHEIM, OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T UNDERWOOD TYPE- WRI'IER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

rYrnwaITiNe MAcnmE.

Application filed April 14, 1.920. 7 Serial No. 373,788.

T 0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN VVALDHEIM, a"

citizen of the United States, residin in Elizabeth, in the county of Union and tate of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Typewriting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the lines pacing 19 mechanism of revoluble platen typewriting machines, and its object is to eliminate the slipping of the work-sheet upon the platen at the line-spacing operation.

The rotation of the platen does not require as much energy as does the return pf the carriage and the operator, anticipating the return of the carriage rather than the rotation of the platen, operates the carriage returning finger-piece with considerable force, and this shock is transmittedto vthe platen with a jerk, which results in the platen starting to revolve too quickly to insure the advancement of the work-sheets in unison with each other and the platen.

According to the present invention, the line-space handle is pivoted to drive to the left instead of to the right. A finger-piece at the left-hand end of the carriage receives the shock of the hand in returning the carriage toward the right. This carriage-res turning finger-piece may be engaged by the first finger, and the operator may then reach to the line-space handle and operate it toward the left with the thumb, with reduced liability of giving the platensharp rotative movements.

Th operator, when moving the hand leftward, may, however, operate the fingerpiece and handle. with sufiicient force to cause a slight creep or slip of the worksheet. To overcome this, the handle may benormally locked and the finger-piece may be slidably mounted on the carriage, to release the handle before it can be operated to line-space th platen.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appean In the accompanying drawings,

Figure lis a perspective view of the carriage of an Underwood typewriter, showing my inventionap'plied thereto.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the parts shown in Figure 1, and shows the locking means which may be used with the linespace lever.

Figure 3 is a showing of the parts in Figure 2 in operated positions. Figure 4: is a front viewof the parts shownin Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a View similar to Figure 2, but shows arearrangement of the parts, so that the line-spacelever may be'en'gaged by the forefinger ofthe operator, while the lock-release may be engaged by the thumb.

The invention may be used in connection with? an Underwood typew'riting machine in which the usual platen 1 isfixed on an axle2 journaled in the ends of a platenframe 3, which is carried on the carriage 4:. A ratchet or line-space' wheel '5, having a collar 6, is'fixed on the axle, and-is rotated by a. awl 7, pivoted on a plunger 8, operated by the line-space lever 9'. The linespace lever has a handle or finger-piece 10,

and is pivoted to the carriage 4: by a stud 18; which passes through a hub 11. hubll has an' arm 12 to engagea bent portion 14 on the plunger 8. A pin 15, extending from the under side of the frame 3, holds one endof a spring 16, the other end of said spring engaging a pin 17, which projects from one end of the plunger 8; This spring urges said plunger forwardly against the arm. 12, and the latter throws said lever rightward, against an abutment 18 on the front bar 20 of the carriage. A second abutment 19 is formed on the extreme leftof said front bar, and a top plate 21 is fixedat both ends by means of screws 22, to both abutments, and, extending between said abutments, forms an opening 23,

in which the line-space lever9 can play. An upwardly projecting finger piece 24: is formed on the left end of the fixed top plate 21, to be engaged by the first finger of the left-hand, for returning the carriage. This fingerepiece serves as an opposing member be seen that the linie s'pacing operation'will normally take place after the return'operation of the earriageh e been started, and

The v that comparatively little force will be employed, so that the platen will not start too suddenly.

In Figure 2 is illustrated means to lock the line-space handle to prevent too sudden a start if the operator should move the hand rapidly leftward. One end of a base plate 25 is fastened to the right-hand abutment 18 by a screw 28. The left end of the base plate is held by a shoulder screw 29 threaded into the abutment 19. A locking lever 26 is pivoted on a screw 33 on the plate 25, and extends over the line-space lever 9 when said lever is in its extreme rightward position. A top plate 31. rests on the base plate 25, and has sliding relation therewith, said sliding being limited by the slots 32, which engage the screws 28 and 29. The movable top plate 31 is normally held in an extreme leftward position by a spring 34, which extends between the projection 35 on the top plate and a similar projection 36 on, and near one end of, the base plate 25.

A pin 37 in the top plate 31 extends downwardly therefrom, and engages in a camslot 38 in an enlarged portion 39 of locking lever 26; said enlarged portion having a shoulder 40 to engage a pin or projection 41, extending from the upper side of the line space lever 9, to'normally lock the linespace lever.

When the typists finger is thrown against the finger-piece 42 of the top plate 31 to return the carriage to the right, the start ing shock is taken up by the finger-piece.

Should the operator endeavor to operate the line-space handle 10 with an excessive force by moving the hand rapidly leftward towards said handle, the blow is broken by the pin 41, which bears against the shoulder '40 until the finger-piece 42 starts to move rightward, pin 37 operating in cam-slot 38 and thereby throwing the locking lever 26 rearward, which allows the pin 41 to move past the shoulder 40, and the line-space lever 9 to swing to the left until it comes into contact with the abutment 19. Before the line-space lever is released, the blow imparted thereto is broken, and the quick start of the platen and slip of the work-sheets I are prevented.

The spring 16 returns the line-space lever 9 to its normal position simultaneously with the return of the top plate 31 to its normal position by the spring 34.

It should be understood that, with the use of a locking device for the line-space lever, the parts may be arranged as shown in Figure 5, in which parts similar to those shown in Figure 2 bear the same reference numerals with the exponent a. It will be seen that the line-space handle or finger-piece 10 moves rightward and receives the impact of the hand while returning the carriage, as in the Underwoed machine The releasing finger-piece 42 is operable by the thumb, and moves leftward towards the line-space handle, to operate the locking lever 26 to release the line-space lever, prior to a linespacing operation of the platen.

Vfith this arrangement, the finger-piece 10 is engaged by the forefinger of the left hand of the operator to return the carriage and operate the line-spacing mechanism, the locking device or lever 26 being normally effective to prevent the impact of the hand of the operator from being transmitted to the platen; the fin er-piece 42 being near enough the linespace handle 10 to be engaged by the thumb of the same hand to operate the locking lever 26 and release the line-space handle. It will be understood that this form of my invention may readily be applied to the Underwood typewriting machine without materially altering the same.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim:

1. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a traveling carriage and a platen revolubly mounted therein, of linespace mechanism for said platen, a line-space lever to operate said line-space mechanism, means for locking said lever and normally preventing actuation thereof, and movable means for absorbing the shock of the hand in returning the carriage to the right, said movable ineans releasing said locking means when near the end of its movement to permit linespacing of the platen.

2. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a traveling carriage and a platen revolubly mounted therein, of line-space mechanism for said platen, a movable finger-piece for absorbing the shock of the hand in returning the carriage to the right, a line-space lever mounted on the carriage for movement toward said finger-piece to operate said line-space mechanism, means for locking said lever and normally preventing actuation thereof, and means operable by the finger-piece for releasing said linespace lever from the locking means when near the end of the movement of the fingerpiece to permit line-spacing of the platen.

3. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a traveling carriage and a platen revolubly mounted therein, of means for rotating the platen comprising a line-space lever, means normally rendering the linespace lever incapable of being operated to rotate the platen, amovable finger-piece on said carriage, adjacent to the lever, adapted to take the burden of moving the carriage when engaged by the typists finger, and means operable by the finger-piece for rendering the operated by another platen. i

In a typewriting machine, the combination with" a traveling carriage and a platen revolubly mounted therein, of a line-space lever to cause rotation of said platen, amovable finger-piece, adjacent said lever, for moving the carriage, and means associated with said finger-piece for causing the lever to be held in fixed relation to the fingerpiece until the latter is moved by the typists finger to start the carriage.

5. In a typewriting machine, a traveling carriage, a revoluble'platen therein, linespacing mechanism including a line-space lever, and means to absolutely prevent the operation of the line-space lever'by a blow, whereby the likelihood of the paper slipping with reference to the platen during the line-spacing operation is obviated.

6. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a traveling carriage and i'a platen revolubly mounted therein, of a'linefinger to rotate the space lever adapted to cause rotation of said.

platen, means comprising a movable fingerpiece on said carriage, adjacent said lever,

adapted to take the burden of moving the carriage when the finger-piece is engaged by the typists finger while another finger operates said line-space lever, a locking member adapted to hold the line-space lever in its ineffective position, said locking memher being controlled by the movement of said finger-piece, and means for retaining the finger-piece in its normal position.

In a typewriting-machine, the combination with a traveling carriage and a platen revolubly mounted therein, of a linespace lever adapted to cause rotation of said platen, a follower fixed on the lever, a movable finger-piece adjacent said lever, a base plate extending between and having fixed relation with abutments on the front bar of the carriage, a locking lever underlying said base plate, the locking lever having pivotal connection with one of said abutments and a pin-and-slot connection with said fingerpiece, said connection serving to operate the locking lever during the movement of said finger-piece, said locking lever adapted to engage said follower, and to cause the linespace lever to be held in fixed relation to said linger-piece when said finger-piece is in its normal position, means connected to said base plate and co-acting with the fingerpiece to urge the latter in one direction, means for limiting the movement of said finger-piece in either direction, and means for limiting the travel of the line-space lever in either direction.

8. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a traveling carriage and a platen revolubly mounted therein, of line-spacing mechanism for said platen, a carriage-returning finger-piece upon the left hand side of the carriage, and a line-space lever mounted on the carriage-to the right of the carriage-returning finger-piece for operative movement in an anti-carriage-return direction toward the carriage-returning fingerpiece, the line-space lever being normally spaced to the right of the finger-piece adistance such as to enable the line-space lever to be engaged by the thumb of the left hand when the finger-piece is engaged by theine deX-finger of such hand, the arrangement being such that the operator may effect the line-spacing operation simultaneously with the return of the carriage but is compelled to effect it by a separately exerted force,,,

thus obviating the slipping of the paper with reference to the platen, which is likely to occur where the line-spacing operation'is effected by a carriage-returning blow.

9. In a typewriting machine, a traveling carriage, a revolubleplaten therein, a carriage-return abutment for returning thecarriage at the completionof each line, and line-spacing mechanlsm for rotating the platen, comprising a line-space lever, said;

leverbeing arranged to be operatedin an anticarriagereturn direction, whereby the operator is compelled to effect the line-spae ing operation by a separately exerted force from that which returns the carriage, thus obviating the slipping of thepaper with ref-' erence to the platen, which is likely to occur where the line-spacing operati'onis effected by a carr1age=return1ng blow.

10.- In a typewriting machine, the combi-v nation with a traveling carriage and a platen revolubly mounted therein, of line-space mechanism for said platen, a line-space lever to operate said line-space mechanism, means for locking said lever and'normally preventing actuation thereof, said means comprising a pivoted lever engaging said line-space lever, a movable finger-piece, the movement of said finger-piece serving to absorb the shock of the hand in returning the carriage to the right, and a connection between said finger-piece and pivoted lever whereby movement of the former displaces the latter, the final movement of said'fingerpiece serving to disengage said pivoted lever from said line-space lever to permit operaengaging in said slot whereby movement of the finger-piece will displace said pivoted lever, the final movement of said finger-piece serving to disengage said pivoted lever from said line-space lever to permit operation of the latter. I

12. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a traveling carriage and a platen revolubly mounted therein, of line-space mechanism for said platen, a line-space lever mounted for pivotal movement on said carriage to operate said line-space mechanism, a slidably movable finger-piece mounted on said carriage for movement toward said lever, said line-space lever and said fingerpiece being spaced from each other lengthwise of the carriage, said finger-piece receiving the full impact of the hand in returning the carriage to the right, and locking means controlled by said finger-piece for preventing movement or" the line-space lever until near the end or" the movement of the finger-piece toward said lever.

13. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a traveling carriage and a platen revolubly mounted therein, of line-spacing mechanism for said platen, a line-space lever mounted for operative and return movements on the carriage, connections between the line-space lever and the line-spacing mechanism for advancing the platen upon each operative movement oi the lever, means for normally locking said line-space lever to prevent actuation of the line-spacing mechanism by a blow, and to thereby prevent actuation of said lever suddenly enough to cause the paper to slip, a finger-piece movable towards said line-space lever, and means operable by the finger-piece when so moved to release the line-space lever from its locking means, so that said lever may be operated by gripping the fingenpiece and lever'and pressing them toward each other to actuate the line-spacing mechanism.

14. In a typewriting machine, the combi nation of a traveling carriage and a platen revolubly mounted therein, mechanism for said platen, a line-space lever to operate said line-spacing mechanism, a projection on said line-space lever, a pivoted locking lever to engage said projection to hold said line-space lever against operation, and a slidable finger-piece, movable towards said line-space lever, to operate said locking lever to release said line-space lever.

15. In a typewrit-ing machine, a traveling carriage, a revoluble platen therein, and linespacing mechanism for the platen including a line-space lever, an abutment, said lever and abutment located to be gripped between a thumb and finger of the operator, and means for compelling the operation of the line-space leverto be effected by opposed pressures upon the line-space lever and the abutment, and for thereby compelling the line-spacing operation to be effected slowly enough to obviate jerking the platen in a manner which would cause the paper to slip.

JOHN WALDHEIM. Witnesses:

CATHERINE A. NEWELL, EDITH B. LIBBEY.

line-spacing 

